Measurement Method and Communication Device

This application is a National Stage of International Application No. PCT/CN2023/097900, filed Jun. 1, 2023, which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202210619278.1, filed Jun. 1, 2022, both of which are incorporated herein by reference herein.

This disclosure relates to the field of satellite communication technology, in particular to a measurement method and a communication device.

In the satellite Internet of things (IoT) system, the orbital altitude of the satellite ranges from hundreds to tens of thousands of kilometers. Because the satellite moves rapidly relative to the terminal device, there is a very large Doppler shift between the terminal device and the satellite and between the satellite and the base station, and the propagation delay between the terminal device and the base station will also change rapidly. In the satellite (IoT) system, the first condition for data transmission is that the terminal device obtains its own location information, so uplink and downlink time-frequency synchronization can be maintained.

The terminal device can obtain its own location information through global navigation satellite system (GNSS) measurement. Therefore, how to determine the location of GNSS measurement gap has become a technical problem to be solved.

Embodiments of the disclosure provide a measurement method. The method includes: receiving downlink control information (DCI); and determining a location of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) measurement gap at least according to a time-domain resource location of the DCI, where the DCI is used to trigger a random access procedure or the DCI is used to schedule data; or determining the location of the GNSS measurement gap at least according to a time-domain resource location of data, where the DCI is used to schedule the data; where the GNSS measurement gap is used for GNSS measurement.

Embodiments of the disclosure provide another measurement method. The method includes: transmitting first indication information, where the first indication information indicates a time offset; and transmitting downlink control information (DCI), where the time offset is a duration between a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) measurement gap and a time-domain resource of the DCI, and the DCI is used to trigger a random access procedure or the DCI is used to schedule data; or the time offset is a duration between the GNSS measurement gap and a time-domain resource of data and the DCI is used to schedule the data; and the GNSS measurement gap is used for GNSS measurement.

Embodiments of the disclosure provide a communication device. The communication device includes a transceiver, a memory, and a processor. The memory stores computer programs. The processor is coupled with the memory and the transceiver and is configured to invoke the computer programs to: cause the transceiver to receive downlink control information (DCI); and determine a location of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) measurement gap at least according to a time-domain resource location of the DCI, where the DCI is used to trigger a random access procedure or the DCI is used to schedule data; or determine the location of the GNSS measurement gap at least according to a time-domain resource location of data, where the DCI is used to schedule the data, where the GNSS measurement gap is used for GNSS measurement.

It should be understood that the terms “first”, “second”, and the like referred to in embodiments of the disclosure are used to distinguish different objects, but are not used to describe a specific order. “At least one” in the embodiments of the disclosure refers to one or more, and “multiple” refers to two or more. “And/or” in embodiments of the disclosure describes the association relationship of the association objects, and indicates that there may be three kinds of relationships, for example, A and/or B, which may indicate the following three situations: only A exists, both A and B exist, and only B exists. A and B may be singular or plural. The character “/” can indicate that the associated object before and after is an “or” relationship. In addition, the character “/” may represent a division sign, that is, a division operation is performed.

“At least one of the following items” or similar expressions thereof in the embodiments of the disclosure refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b or c may represent the following seven cases: a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, and a, b, and c. Each of a, b, c may be an element or a set containing one or more elements.

In the embodiments of the disclosure, the terms “of”, “relevant”, “corresponding”, “associated”, and “mapped” may be replaced with each other in some cases. It should be pointed out that when not for distinction, the concepts or meanings to be expressed are consistent.

Referring to,is a schematic architecture diagram of a communication system provided in embodiments of the disclosure. The communication system may include, but is not limited to, one terminal device and one network device. The number and form of devices shown inare not limited to embodiments of the disclosure. The communication system may include two or more network devices and two or more terminal devices in practical application. The communication system shown inincludes a terminal deviceand a network deviceas an example.

The terminal device in embodiments of the disclosure is a device having a wireless transceiver function, and may be referred to as a terminal, a user equipment (UE), a mobile station (MS), a mobile terminal (MT), an access terminal device, an Internet of things (IoT) terminal device, a vehicle terminal device, an industrial control terminal device, a UE unit, a UE station, a mobile radio station, a remote station, a remote terminal device, a mobile device, a UE terminal device, a wireless communication device, a UE agent, or a UE device. The terminal device may be fixed or mobile. The terminal device may support at least one wireless communication technology such as long time evolution (LTE), new radio (NR), wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), and the like. For example, the terminal device may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a desktop computer, a notebook computer, an all-in-one device, a vehicle terminal, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, or an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical surgery, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in smart city, a wireless terminal in smart home, a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) telephone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistants (PDA), a handheld device or computing device with wireless communication capability, or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a wearable device, a terminal device in a future mobile communication network, or a terminal device in a future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN), etc. In some embodiments of the disclosure, the terminal device may also be a device having a transceiver function, such as a chip module. The chip module may include a chip and may also include other discrete devices. The embodiments of the disclosure do not limit the specific technology and the specific device form adopted by the terminal device.

In embodiments of the disclosure, the network device is a device that provides a wireless communication function for the terminal device, the network device may be an access network (AN) device or a satellite, and the AN device may be a radio access network (RAN) device. The access network device may support at least one wireless communication technology, such as LTE, NR, WCDMA, etc. For example, the access network device includes, but is not limited to, a next generation base station (gNB), an evolved node B (eNB), a radio network controller (RNC), a node B (NB), a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a home base station (e.g., home evolved node B, or home node B (HNB)), a baseband unit (BBU), a TRP, a transmitting point (TP), a mobile switching center, or the like in 5th-generation (5G). The network device may also be a wireless controller, a centralized unit (CU), and/or a distributed unit (DU) in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario, or the access network device may be a relay station, an access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a terminal device, a wearable device, an access network device in a future mobile communication or an access network device in a future evolved PLMN, or the like. In some embodiments, the network device may also be a device, such as a chip module, having a wireless communication function for the terminal device. For example, the chip module may include a chip and may also include other discrete devices. The embodiments of the disclosure do not limit the specific technology and the specific device form adopted by the network device.

It should be noted that the technical solutions of the embodiments of the disclosure can be applied to various communication systems, for example, non-terrestrial networks (NTN) (i.e., satellite communication), 5G mobile communication systems, and 5G NR systems. Optionally, the method of embodiments of the disclosure is also applicable to various future communication systems, such as a 6G system or other communication networks.

It can be understood that the communication system described in embodiments of the disclosure is to more clearly explain the technical solution of embodiments of the disclosure, and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solution provided in embodiments of the disclosure. Those skilled in the art can know that with the evolution of the system architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solution provided in embodiments of the disclosure is equally applicable to similar technical problems.

is a schematic flow chart of a measurement method provided in embodiments of the disclosure. As shown in, the measurement method may include, but is not limited to, the following steps.

S, a network device transmits downlink control information (DCI). Accordingly, a terminal device receives the DCI.

The network device determines the DCI and then transmits the DCI to the terminal device. The DCI is used to trigger a random access procedure, or the DCI is used to schedule data. The DCI used to trigger the random access procedure may be carried in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) Order.

S, the terminal device determines a location of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) measurement gap at least according to a time-domain resource location of the DCI, where the DCI is used to trigger the random access procedure or the DCI is used to schedule the data; or the terminal device determines the location of the GNSS measurement gap at least according to a time-domain resource location of data, where the DCI is used to schedule the data; where the GNSS measurement gap is used for GNSS measurement.

The GNSS measurement gap is a time-domain window, and the time-domain window represents a segment of time-domain resources. After receiving the DCI, the terminal device may determine the location of the GNSS measurement gap according to one or more of the following methods. Method, if the DCI is used to trigger the random access procedure, the terminal device determines the location of the GNSS measurement gap at least according to the time-domain resource location of the DCI. Method, if the DCI is used for scheduling the data, the terminal device determines the location of the GNSS measurement gap at least according to the time-domain resource location of the data. Method, if the DCI is used for scheduling the data, the terminal device determines the location of the GNSS measurement gap at least according to the time-domain resource location of the DCI. In embodiments of the disclosure, the time-domain resource location (such as the location of the GNSS measurement gap) may include, but is not limited to, a start location and/or an end location of the time-domain resource.

To be noted that, the terminal device can determine the location of the GNSS measurement gap according to one or a combination of the above three methods. Exemplarily, the combination of Methodand Methodmeans that: when the DCI is used to trigger the random access procedure, the terminal device determines the location of the GNSS measurement gap according to Method, and when the DCI is used to schedule the data, the terminal device determines the location of the GNSS measurement gap according to Method.

In an implementation, the terminal device determines the location of the GNSS measurement gap at least according to the time-domain resource location of the DCI as follows. The terminal device determines the location of the GNSS measurement gap according to the time-domain resource location of the DCI and a time offset, where the time offset is a duration between the GNSS measurement gap and a time-domain resource of the DCI.

Optionally, the time offset may be a duration between a start location of the GNSS measurement gap and an end location of the time-domain resource of the DCI. In this case, the terminal device may determine the start location of the GNSS measurement gap according to the end location of the time-domain resource of the DCI and the time offset. Exemplarily, the start location of the GNSS measurement gap is a sum of the end location of the time-domain resource of the DCI and the time offset. For example, in the timing diagram of the GNSS measurement gap shown in, the end location of the time-domain resource of the DCI is at subframe n1 and the time offset is k subframes, so the start location of the GNSS measurement gap is at subframe n1+k.

Optionally, the time offset may be a duration between an end location of the GNSS measurement gap and the end location of the time-domain resource of the DCI. In this case, the terminal device may determine the start location and the end location of the GNSS measurement gap according to the end location of the time-domain resource of the DCI, the time offset, and a duration of the GNSS measurement gap. For example, the end location of the GNSS measurement gap is a sum of the end location of the time-domain resource of the DCI and the time offset, and the start location of the GNSS measurement gap is a difference between the end location of the GNSS measurement gap and the duration of the GNSS measurement gap. For example, the end location of the time-domain resource of the DCI is at subframe n1, the time offset is (k+m) subframes, and the duration of the GNSS measurement gap is m subframes, so the end location of the GNSS measurement gap is at subframe n1+ (k+m) and the start location of the GNSS measurement gap is at subframe n1+(k+m)−m=n1+k.

In the above example, the unit of the time offset and the unit of the duration of the GNSS measurement gap being subframes is for illustration. In other implementations, the unit of the time offset and the unit of the duration of the GNSS measurement gap may be milliseconds, seconds, slots, symbols (such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols), frames, or other units, and the embodiments of the disclosure are not limited thereto.

In an implementation, the terminal device determines the location of the GNSS measurement gap at least according to the time-domain resource location of the data as follows. The terminal device determines the location of the GNSS measurement gap according to the time-domain resource location of the data and a time offset, where the time offset is a duration between the GNSS measurement gap and a time-domain resource of the data.

Optionally, the time offset may be a duration between the start location of the GNSS measurement gap and an end location of the time-domain resource of the data. In this case, the terminal device may determine the start location of the GNSS measurement gap according to the end location of the time-domain resource of the data and the time offset. Exemplarily, the start location of the GNSS measurement gap is a sum of the end location of the time-domain resource of the data and the time offset. For example, in the timing diagram of the GNSS measurement gap shown in, the end location of the time-domain resource of the data scheduled by the DCI is at subframe n2 and the time offset is k subframes, so the start location of the GNSS measurement gap is at subframe n2+k.

Optionally, the time offset may be a duration between the end location of the GNSS measurement gap and the end location of the time-domain resource of the data. In this case, the terminal device may determine the start location and the end location of the GNSS measurement gap according to the end location of the time-domain resource of the data, the time offset, and the duration of the GNSS measurement gap. For example, the end location of the GNSS measurement gap is a sum of the end location of the time-domain resource of the data and the time offset, and the start location of the GNSS measurement gap is a difference between the end location of the GNSS measurement gap and the duration of the GNSS measurement gap. For example, the end location of the time-domain resource of the data scheduled by the DCI is at subframe n2, the time offset is (k+m) subframes, and the duration of the GNSS measurement gap is m subframes, so the end location of the GNSS measurement gap is at subframe n2+(k+m) and the start location of the GNSS measurement gap is at subframe n2+(k+m)−m=n2+k.

In an implementation, the network device may further transmit first indication information, and accordingly, the terminal device may receive the first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate the time offset. The network device may transmit the first indication information before transmitting the DCI, and accordingly, the terminal device receives the first indication information before receiving the DCI. The first indication information may be carried in higher layer signaling, system information, or the DCI (i.e., the DCI is also used to indicate the time offset). For example, the higher layer signaling may be radio resource control (RRC) signaling. In another implementation, the time offset may also be predefined in the protocol.

In an implementation, the network device may further transmit second indication information, and accordingly, the terminal device may receive the second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate the duration of the GNSS measurement gap. The network device may transmit the second indication information before transmitting the DCI, and accordingly, the terminal device receives the second indication information before receiving the DCI. The second indication information may be carried in higher layer signaling, system information, or the DCI (i.e., the DCI is also used to indicate the duration of the GNSS measurement gap). In another implementation, the duration of the GNSS measurement gap may also be predefined in the protocol.

In an implementation, the DCI may also be used to indicate whether to enable the GNSS measurement gap. The GNSS measurement gap is a time-domain window, and the time-domain window represents a segment of time-domain resources. Enabling the GNSS measurement gap may indicate that the terminal device is allowed to perform GNSS measurement within the time-domain window. Disabling the GNSS measurement gap may indicate that the terminal device is not allowed to perform GNSS measurement within the time-domain window. When the GNSS measurement gap is enabled, the terminal device can perform GNSS measurement within the GNSS measurement gap. It is noted that, when the GNSS measurement gap is enabled, the terminal device may or may not perform GNSS measurement within the GNSS measurement gap, which is not limited in embodiments of the disclosure.

Optionally, the DCI may explicitly or implicitly indicate whether to enable the GNSS measurement gap.

The explicit indication means that the DCI includes an indication field for indicating whether to enable the GNSS measurement gap. Exemplarily, the DCI includes indication information a (i.e., the indication field), indication information a indicates whether to enable the GNSS measurement gap. For example, one bit is set in the DCI to carry indication information a. When a value of the bit corresponding to indication information a is 0, indication information a indicates not to enable the GNSS measurement gap, and when the value of the bit corresponding to indication information a is 1, indication information a indicates to enable to the GNSS measurement gap. The DCI may also be used to schedule the data or the DCI may also be used to trigger the random access procedure.

The implicit indication may mean that a type of DCI has a correspondence (such as correspondence) with whether to enable the GNSS measurement gap, and the terminal device may determine whether to enable the GNSS measurement gap according to correspondenceafter receiving the DCI and decoding. The type of DCI may include, but is not limited to, the DCI for triggering the random access procedure, the DCI for scheduling the data. For example, correspondenceincludes, for example, a correspondence between the DCI for triggering the random access procedure and enabling the GNSS measurement gap, and a correspondence between the DCI for scheduling the data and enabling the GNSS measurement gap. If the terminal device receives the DCI for triggering the random access procedure, the DCI implicitly indicates to enable the GNSS measurement gap, in other words, when the terminal device receives the DCI for triggering the random access procedure (i.e., PDCCH Order), the GNSS measurement gap is enabled by default. If the terminal device receives the DCI for scheduling the data, the DCI implicitly indicates to enable the GNSS measurement gap. If the DCI received by the terminal device is not used to trigger the random access procedure or not to schedule the data, the DCI may implicitly indicate not to enable the GNSS measurement gap.

Alternatively, the implicit indication may also mean that the DCI includes information (e.g., referred to as information b) having a correspondence (e.g., referred to as correspondence) with whether to enable the GNSS measurement gap, and the terminal device may determine whether to enable the GNSS measurement gap according to information b and correspondence. Herein, information b can be carried in the original indication field in the DCI, that is, there is no need to expand a new indication field in the DCI to indicate whether to enable the GNSS measurement gap. For example, information b is carried in a format indication field in the DCI, where the format indication field occupies 1 bit, and correspondenceincludes that: a value of the bit corresponding to the format indication field being 1 corresponds to enabling the GNSS measurement gap, and the value of the bit corresponding to the format indication field being 0 corresponds to disabling the GNSS measurement gap. If the value of the bit corresponding to the format indication field in the DCI received by the terminal device is 1, the DCI implicitly indicates to enable the GNSS measurement gap. If the value of the bit corresponding to the format indication field in the DCI received by the terminal device is 0, the DCI implicitly indicates not to enable the GNSS measurement gap. The DCI may also be used to schedule the data, or the DCI may also be used to trigger the random access procedure.

Optionally, in addition to according to whether to enable the GNSS measurement gap indicated by the DCI, whether the GNSS measurement is performed within the GNSS measurement gap may be determined according to whether a previous GNSS measurement result fails. The previous GNSS measurement is obtained from the most recent GNSS measurement. In an implementation, if the previous GNSS measurement result fails, the terminal device may perform GNSS measurement within the GNSS measurement gap. In other words, if the previous GNSS measurement result fails, the terminal device may determine that the GNSS measurement gap needs to be enabled, and further, the terminal device may perform GNSS measurement within the GNSS measurement gap. It can be understood that if the previous GNSS measurement result is valid, the terminal device may determine that the GNSS measurement gap does not need to be enabled, and accordingly, the terminal device may not perform GNSS measurement.

In an implementation, failure of the previous GNSS measurement result means that a timer corresponding to the previous GNSS measurement result expires. The timer corresponding to the previous GNSS measurement result is started when the previous GNSS measurement result is obtained. The duration of the timer is the valid duration of the previous GNSS measurement result, and the previous GNSS measurement result becomes invalid when the timer expires (or the timing ends). If the timer has not expired (or the timing has not ended), the previous GNSS measurement result is valid. Note that, every time the corresponding GNSS measurement result is generated by performing corresponding GNSS measurement, a corresponding timer may be started.

For example, the valid duration of the previous GNSS measurement result is 3s, when the terminal device completes GNSS measurement and obtains the GNSS measurement result, the timer corresponding to the GNSS measurement result may be started. The timer starts counting down from 3s, and when the timer counts down to 0s, the timer expires, and at this time, the GNSS measurement result becomes invalid. The timer may also be a count-up timer. For example, the valid duration of the previous GNSS measurement result is 3s, when the terminal device completes GNSS measurement and obtains the GNSS measurement result, the timer corresponding to the GNSS measurement result may be started. The timer starts counting from 0s, and when the timer counts up to 3s or more than 3s, the timer expires, and at this time, the GNSS measurement result becomes invalid.

In another implementation, failure of the previous GNSS measurement result means that a cache duration of the previous GNSS measurement result is longer than the valid duration of the previous GNSS measurement result. When the cache duration of the previous GNSS measurement result is less than or equal to the valid duration, the previous GNSS measurement result is valid.

It should be noted that the failure of the previous GNSS measurement result may individually trigger the GNSS measurement within the GNSS measurement gap. In this case, the DCI may not indicate whether to enable the GNSS measurement gap. In other words, whether to perform the GNSS measurement within the GNSS measurement gap may only refer to whether the previous GNSS measurement result is invalid, but not refer to the indication content of the DCI or the DCI may not indicate whether to enable the GNSS measurement gap. For example, upon the terminal device completes GNSS measurement within the GNSS measurement gap, the timer is started, and the terminal device does not need to start the GNSS measurement gap to perform GNSS measurement before the timer expires (i.e., when the previous GNSS measurement result is valid). When the timer expires (i.e., the previous GNSS measurement result fails), the terminal device can enable the GNSS measurement gap and perform GNSS measurement within the GNSS measurement gap.

Alternatively, the terminal device may consider both the indication content of the DCI and whether the previous GNSS measurement result fails, to determine whether to perform the GNSS measurement within the GNSS measurement gap. In this case, whether to perform GNSS measurement within the GNSS measurement gap needs to refer to whether the previous GNSS measurement result fails and the indication content of the DCI. For example, on condition that the DCI indicates (implicitly or explicitly) to enable the GNSS measurement gap and the previous GNSS measurement result fails, the terminal device may perform GNSS measurement within the GNSS measurement gap. On condition that the DCI indicates (implicitly or explicitly) to enable the GNSS measurement gap and the previous GNSS measurement result is valid, the terminal device may not perform GNSS measurement. For example, the GNSS measurement gap is enabled by default when the terminal device receives the PDCCH Order (that is, the DCI is used to implicitly indicate to enable the GNSS measurement gap), and a schematic diagram of whether to perform GNSS measurement is shown in, where the PDCCH Order is also used to trigger the random access procedure. Referring to, upon the terminal device completes GNSS measurement within GNSS measurement gap, timeris started, and GNSS measurement resultis obtained by performing GNSS measurement, where a duration of timeris a valid duration of GNSS measurement result. When the terminal device receives PDCCH Order-before timerexpires (that is, when GNSS measurement resultis valid), the terminal device determines that the GNSS measurement gap does not need to be enabled to perform GNSS measurement, and transmits the physical random access channel (PRACH) after receiving PDCCH Order-. When the terminal device receives PDCCH Order-after timerexpires (that is, when GNSS measurement resultis invalid), the terminal device determines that GNSS measurement gapneeds to be enabled to perform GNSS measurement. Upon the terminal device completes GNSS measurement within GNSS measurement gap, new timeris started, and the terminal device transmits the PRACH after completing GNSS measurement. Timerand timerare the same in duration.

Alternatively, in the example corresponding to, 1 bit may be configured in the PDCCH Order to carry indication information a (not shown in), and indication information a is used to explicitly indicate whether to enable the GNSS measurement gap. When the value of the bit corresponding to indication information a is 0, indication information a indicates not to enable the GNSS measurement gap, and when the value of the bit corresponding to indication information a is 1, indication information a indicates to enable the GNSS measurement gap. For example, the value of the bit corresponding to indication information a in each of PDCCH Order-and PDCCH Order-is 1. As shown in, when the terminal device receives PDCCH Order-before timerexpires, the terminal device determines that it is not necessary to start the GNSS measurement gap to perform GNSS measurement, and transmits the PRACH after receiving PDCCH Order-. When the terminal device receives PDCCH Order-after timerexpires, the terminal device determines that it is necessary to start GNSS measurement gapto perform GNSS measurement, and upon the terminal device completes GNSS measurement within GNSS measurement gap, new timeris started, and the terminal device transmits the PRACH after completing GNSS measurement.

In this way, it is advantageous to avoid performing GNSS measurement frequently, thereby saving resources and prolonging the battery life of the terminal device. The IoT terminal devices have relatively high requirements on the battery life, if GNSS measurement is performed frequently, the battery life of the device will be seriously shortened.

In an implementation, when it is determined in the above manner that the GNSS measurement gap is not enabled or the GNSS measurement is not performed, the terminal device may perform the following steps. If the DCI is used to trigger the random access procedure, the terminal device may transmit the PRACH. If the DCI is used for scheduling the data, the terminal device may determine a time-frequency resource for transmitting the data according to the indication in the DCI and transmit the data on the time-frequency resource. The terminal device transmits the PRACH, which means that the terminal device transmits a random access request on the PRACH. The terminal device transmits the data, which means that the terminal device transmits uplink data or receives downlink data according to the scheduling information in the DCI. For example, the terminal device transmits uplink data on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), or the terminal device receives downlink data on a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

In an implementation, the network device may further transmit third indication information, and accordingly, the terminal device may receive the third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate a duration of the timer. The network device may transmit the third indication information before transmitting the DCI, and accordingly, the terminal device receives the third indication information before receiving the DCI. The third indication information may be carried in higher layer signaling, system information, or the DCI (i.e., the DCI is also used to indicate the duration of the timer). Optionally, the third indication information may occupy one bit or more bits. Taking the third indication information occupying one bit as an example, the value of the bit being 1 may indicate to enable the GNSS measurement gap, and the value of the bit being 0 may indicate not to enable the GNSS measurement gap. In another implementation, the duration of the timer may also be predefined in the protocol. Optionally, the valid duration of the previous GNSS measurement result may be indicated by the network device or may be predefined in the protocol, which is not limited in embodiments of the disclosure.

In an implementation, the network device may determine the duration of the timer according to the following method. The terminal device reports timing reference indication information, where the timing reference indication information indicates a reference valid duration of the GNSS measurement result. Accordingly, the network device receives the timing reference indication information and determines the duration of the timer according to the reference valid duration. Optionally, the reference valid duration may be determined according to the capability of the terminal device and/or the mobility information of the terminal device. For example, if the battery capacity of the terminal device is large, the reference valid duration may be shorter. If the location of the terminal device can remain fixed for a longer period of time, the reference valid duration may be longer. If the location of the terminal device remains fixed for a shorter period of time, the reference valid duration may be shorter. Optionally, the network device may determine the reference valid duration reported by the terminal device as the duration of the timer, or the network device may determine a sum of the reference valid duration reported by the terminal device and a preset duration as the duration of the timer, where the preset duration may be agreed in the protocol.

Optionally, the units of the duration of the timer and the valid duration of the previous GNSS measurement result may be milliseconds, seconds, slots, symbols, frames, or other units, which are not limited in the embodiments of the disclosure.

In an implementation, when the DCI is used to trigger the random access procedure, the terminal device may transmit the PRACH after completing the GNSS measurement within the GNSS measurement gap. In other words, when the DCI is used to trigger the random access procedure, the terminal device initiates the random access procedure after completing GNSS measurement within the GNSS measurement gap, that is, the location of the GNSS measurement gap is prior to a time-domain resource location of the PRACH. The terminal device can obtain the location information of the terminal device after completing GNSS measurement within the GNSS measurement gap. The location information of the terminal device can be used to calculate a timing advance (TA) amount. By accurately calculating the TA amount, it is beneficial to improve the probability that the terminal device transmits the PRACH and successfully accesses the network.

In an implementation, when DCI is used to schedule the data, the location of the GNSS measurement gap may be prior to the time-domain resource location of the data, or the time-domain resource location of the data may be prior to the location of the GNSS measurement gap. In other words, when DCI is used to schedule the data, the timing of transmitting the data by the terminal device may be: performing GNSS measurement within the GNSS measurement gap and then transmitting the data, or transmitting the data and then performing GNSS measurement within the GNSS measurement gap. “The location of the GNSS measurement gap is prior to the time-domain resource location of the data” means that the terminal device first performs GNSS measurement within the GNSS measurement gap and then transmits the data. “The time-domain resource location of the data is prior to the location of the GNSS measurement gap” means that the terminal device first transmits the data and then performs GNSS measurement within the GNSS measurement gap.

The GNSS measurement gap is one time-domain resource. In embodiments of the disclosure, the relative locational relationship of two time-domain resources (such as the GNSS measurement gap and the time-domain resource of the data) may be determined according to time units occupied by time-domain resources. The time unit may be, for example, a frame, a subframe, a slot, a symbol, or other unit in the time-domain, and embodiments of the disclosure is not limited. Taking the time unit as a symbol as an example, the relative relationship of the location of the GNSS measurement gap and the time-domain resource location of the data can be determined according to the first symbol or the last symbol occupied by each of the two time-domain resources.